Samsung Q85 (QE65Q85RATXXU) sound popping and cracking on external devices

[Rich12]

I’m currently on my third Q85 television set and before I pack this one up and send it back I’m hoping someone can help.

I have a Samsung QLED Q85 (only available in Europe I believe) connected to an Apple TV 4K, fire stick 4K and a PS4. The sound is fine when watching terrestrial tv and using apps through the tv itself, however when watching anything through any of the three external devices the sound pops, breaks and cracks. It’s intermittent, and sometimes there’s no problem at all, but if I notice it on one device, when I switch to another I am hearing the same problem. 

I’ve called Samsung several times and they have suggested it’s a compatibility issue which I find hard to believe given the popularity of the devices I’m trying to connect (I should also say the tv has no problem recognising the devices and is able to set the correct settings on the smart remote). I’ve changed the cables (even though I was already using high spec high speed hdmi cables), tried switching devices in different ports, performed factory resets on all devices, and ensured all software is up to date but it’s still happening. It was the same issue I had with the previous television (that I got replaced) so unless this is a known fault it can only be something I’m doing but am out of ideas.

I’ve made several adjustments to the setting such as turning anynet on/off. I only have the option of selecting PCM as the output. I have the tv connected to a sonos soundbar on a 5.1 setup via optical cable, however I also get the crackling when switching to the tv speaker so i’m confident it’s not the sound system.

Finally, samsung have performed several tests,

and have remotely reset the HDMI ports which temporarily resolved it but low and behold an hour later and it was back.

So all in all I’m pretty confused and all the basic troubleshooting steps I’ve found online don’t resolve the issue.

Samsung have escalated my recent issue with their technical support team, so I will post a response if they’re able to fix it. If anyone knows of anything else I might be missing and should try in the meantime, please let me know.

I love the picture and the tv itself so really hoping I can find a fix. Thanks so much in advance.

[Rocketlou]

Yes we've tried everything Re: cables and sound settings. The issue IS resolved with moving the aerial further away... we don't have sky and those that do will probably not notice it with the aerial going through the box. Got a freeview box today to test - sound issues were resolved BUT the picture was compromised and defeats the point of buying the tv on the first place. So, we've downgraded to the Q70 (without one connect) and waiting for new pick up / delivery date. Figured without the box the aerial will be slightly further away from the hdmi ports and hopefully far enough away to not cause an issue and if that's not the case - the £500 saving will make removing the aerial when needed more bearable 😞

[dankec]

Unfortunately, same thing happens with Q70 also!

But only sometimes. Sometimes turning tv off and on helps, and sometimes cleaning with Smart Manager do the trick.

Still, no permanent solution.

[Unrealbedlam]

I have a new Samsung TV 55-inch and it does exactly the same problem after a lot of time testing I found out, if you go onto the digital TV and have a HD channel on this will cause the problem with the sound, but if you switch to a standard channel and then go onto your HDMI device the sound is fine.

I have Freesat on my TV if I try that with an HD channel it works perfect it only goes funny if I use Freeview you on an HD channel.

So all you have to do is go on your Freeview choose a standard definition channel and then try your HDMI and in my case it works fine.

[AdrianCee]

This community forum is great. I had been plagued by the randomness of this problem coming and going and have learnt on here that the source of the problem is perhaps related to the TV aerial input and specifically when the Digital TV source is set to an HD channel.  I have tested by doing both - i) removing the Aerial (Mine goes through a BT YouView box first before connecting to the onebox) - noise goes away and 2) Selecting on Digital TV source a standard channel not HD - noise goes away. 

This is a strange fault - but if others can test this to see if we have a consistent reproducable fault, we may have more luck getting Samsung to do something about it. 

I will continue my testing to see if there is a way to resolve - ie ferrite beads, attenuators, splitters etc. Thanks everyone

Adrian

[SteveG2]

Selecting a standard definition channel before using HDMI works for me too.  I have reported this issue to Samsung but they are saying that they don't have any known issues relating to this even though I provide them a link to this discussion!   

[GeezW]

I'm having exactly the same issue with sound popping/interference. In my case I'm using a 55" Q70R, and basically any device plugged into one of the HDMI ports will be affected by sound popping if you leave the TV on an HD channel in the background.

We can probably rule out low quality HDMI cables being the cause, because 2 out of 3 of my HDMI devices don't have cables (one's a Chromecast, the other's a FireTV Stick, and both are plugged in directly without the need for extra cables).

For sound I'm using the optical audio output which is connected to an amp via a splitter (so that I can also send the sound signal to a separate BlueTooth transmitter). But I've tested it with standard TV Speaker output as well.  In both cases I'm getting popping, and if anything it's worse through the TV Speaker.

The sound is flawless when watching standard TV, any of the built-in apps, or anything on an external HDD plugged in to one of the USB ports (so far at least).

But thanks @Unrealbedlam, switching the TV to an SD channel before watching anything via an HDMI-attached device works for me!

[dankec]

A solution which works on my Q70:

When you notice popping sound try to reset TV without changing TV source: Just press and keep remote power key till Samsung Logo appears. It will last for few seconds, not more.

After restart, no more popping sound.

So, Samsung should implement a fast internal reset every time you switch to HDMI source and it will be solved.

[JoseFreire]

My new Q55QE70RATX arrived yesterday, and my PS4 started making popping sounds.

I have a Q65QE70FNAT, and it happens too.

Thanks to this forum, I can confirm that it's only when I have the antenna cable connected and on a HD channel.

For me, this only happens when I have the Playstation sound set as "PCM". If I change the sound output to Dolby, no popping sound!

So, in summary, the popping sound only happens when:
- The antenna cable is connected;
- The TV is set to a HD channel;
- The sound output of the device is set to PCM.

If a TV reset solves the problem, it looks like something that can be fixed with a firmware update.

Thanks guys!

[dankec]

Yes, reset TV works EVERY TIME with my TV. But I have to do every time I switch to HDMI kodi box.

So, in my case, I just need TV reset every time I switch to HDMI source.

Could someone confirm it on other devices?

[Tedson]

I can confirm this is correct. I have a Q80R 65' TV and have owned it since July last year. I have ALWAYS had this issue since purchase and have tried multiple resets, viewed so many forums in search of an answer.. resorted to feeding everything into my sound bar which sorted the issue but I had to keep switching input on the sound bar. This fix above has completely sorted my issue! Just so long as I'm not viewing a HD channel on freeview I NEVER now get an issue... it's now perfect using anything connected via HDMI directly to the tv.